About

Why?

We need to respond to the changing needs of our customers. This means changing the type of housing we offer and updating our services. Work towards net zero and more energy-efficient homes is a key factor to consider as well as the need to improve the condition and appearance of our properties and their surroundings.

The Social Housing Regulation Act sets out expectations on the safety and wellbeing of social housing residents alongside the new Safety and Quality Standard which our plan is geared up to deliver on including our Damp, Mould and Condensation Action Plan. The Building Safety Act came into force in 2022 and we continue to work hard to ensure that our customers are safe in their homes.

To respond to housing demand, we need to continue to deliver a range of new homes to meet a variety of needs and a choice of tenure including social rent, affordable rent, rent to buy and shared ownership. We are using the results from our stock condition survey as well as feedback from our customers to plan investment. To focus on improving our customers’ homes we are prioritising investment in our stock and considering savings and efficiencies to resource this.

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Our priorities to deliver this objective are:

Increasing investment in our homes

This means safe, warm homes for our customers.

Making the best use of our stock

We want to meet the housing needs of our customers, respond to the needs of new customers and to get the best value for money from our stock. We offer a range of tenures: affordable rent housing, rent to buy and shared ownership to help match different needs and through the provision of lowcost homeownership, we make more social housing available to those who need it the most.

Delivering new homes

This will help us to tackle the shortage of affordable homes and help in preventing homelessness. We want to provide good quality sustainable new homes which are more efficient and to support our more vulnerable customers to live independently.

Working towards our carbon reduction targets

We want to provide homes that are energy efficient and cheaper to run for our customers and improved fuel efficiency and reduced bills for customers in our existing homes.

Ensuring the health and safety of our customers

We continue to work to make sure our customers are safe in their homes.

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Why?

At any one time, we provide targeted support to over 2,000 customers. We continue to see the effects of the cost-of-living crisis such as the increase in mental health problems, unemployment, customers who have complex needs and/or have experienced domestic abuse.

Research and conversations with our partners, our Operations Committee and customer groups have helped to shape the role we need to play. We continue to focus on areas where we can have the greatest impact and address the needs of the communities we serve.

Services from other agencies are also under significant pressure and we recognise the need to try to plug some of those gaps where resources allow us to work in partnership and to be key place-shapers. We will contribute to our communities by releasing resources for support services where we can and being agile to take advantage of funding opportunities.

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Our priorities to deliver this objective are:

Improving customer experience

• We want to provide a good experience for our customers along with improved access to services.
• We will continue to provide targeted support to our most vulnerable customers.
• We will be providing more choice in ways to communicate with us as well as providing information ready to access through our online channels.

Expanding both opportunities and the number of customers involved through our customer engagement framework

• We want people to have more confidence in us that we will do something with their feedback and to show more evidence of the impact that our involved customers have.
• It is important to us that customers feel greater ownership in their own communities.
• This will help us to strengthen our compliance with the new consumer standards relating to engagement and feedback.
• It will also mean we can support more customers into work.

Using our data and systems to tailor services to better support customers

• We are reducing the number of IT systems we manage so that our customer and property data is in one place and therefore more accurate.
• This improved data accuracy will mean we can make better business decisions.

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Why?

Strong governance is essential for the Group so that we are assured of being well-managed, financially viable and providing value for money. As part of the regulatory framework, the Regulator of Social Housing carries out regular checks on our governance and viability and our compliance with consumer and other regulatory standards.

Good governance and financial viability give our funders and partners the confidence to work with us and invest in us, which in turn is crucial for us to be able to deliver the services our customers need.

We will be required to report on new Tenant Satisfaction Measures in the coming year which will help customers and the Regulator see how we are performing and where we can improve.

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Our priorities to deliver this objective are:

Putting in place additional finance to match business plan requirements

This means we can maintain and improve our existing properties and deliver new homes.

Ensuring value for money in our strategic decision making

• This contributes to us having a financially secure business plan.
• Delivering on our savings targets means we have money available to spend on asset investment and core services.
• We want to make sure we spend our money wisely.

To assess, learn from and strengthen compliance with regulation and legal requirements

This helps us to be a well-run organisation that meets the changing legal and regulatory requirements.

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Why?

Bolton at Home is a good place to work. Our people are empowered to do the right thing for each other and for our customers.

Our aim is for our colleagues to feel motivated and engaged with the purpose and values of Bolton at Home so that they can deliver on our objectives. Equality, diversity and inclusion are an important part of this.

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Our priorities to deliver this objective are:

Defining and embedding the target culture for our organisation

This means a workforce that respects each other and our customers and improved diversity in our workforce.

Learning and Development to be accessed by all

We will have professional and personal development plans for all our employees as well as a leadership development programme to make sure our people have the right skills and knowledge.

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